Police Broke Out Water Canons To Deal With Women Protesting Rape In India [PHOTOS]

Two teen girls were raped and hanged from a tree in
caste-sensitive Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state
and a key political win for new prime minister, Narendra
Modi.

Thus far,
Modi, a prolific tweeter, has yet to address the rape and killing
of the two cousins, 14 and 15 years old.

Protests
erupted nationwide this weekend, calling for repercussions to
authorities — who reportedly took more than 12 hours to address
the missing reports. Currently, four suspects have been arrested,
two of whom are officers themselves, according to the
Associated Press.

AP Photo/Altaf Qadri

On Saturday, May 31, activists held posters expressing their
demands in New Delhi, which has earned the reputation of the
"rape capital" of the world. At that point, police had arrested a
third suspect and still hunted for two others.

AP Photo

Women activists, of course, joined the rallies. Above, some hold
candles during a peaceful vigil.

AP Photo/ Rajesh Kumar Singh

As the
national outrage gained steam, demonstrations became more
intense. Here, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers raise slogans
and burn an effigy of Akhilesh Yadav, the chief minister of Uttar
Pradesh.

AP Photo

Then, on June 2, hundreds of women marched
on Yadav's office in Uttar Pradesh,
demanding he crack down on the increasing number of rapes. Police
broke out water cannons to disperse them.

AP Photo

Some fought back.

The rape and murder of these girls tells an all too common story
in India — sexual violence that goes ignored. It's a hostile
culture for women where
a top policeman says, "If you can't prevent rape, you enjoy
it."

In 2011, the Thomas
Reuters Foundation named the India the worst
place in the world for women.Records
show a rape occurs every 22 minutes there, according to
the AP.

Indian women do face danger at every
age. Parents will abort female infants simply because
of their gender. During adolescence, they experience rape and
assault, and even after marriage, families will commit "bride
burning," also known as dowry death.